Leroy Sane will play for Manchester City Under-23s against Arsenal on Friday night as he steps up his recovery from injury.
The German winger has been sidelined since suffering a cruciate knee injury against Liverpool in the Community Shield in August and has not featured in a matchday squad despite being in training with the first team squad for the last few weeks.
Pep Guardiola wants Sane to build his match rhythm up and, while he has been critical of the standard of youth football in England, he is grateful that the opportunity is there for the 24-year-old to get some football back in his legs.
City's coach also didn't rule out more matches for Sane with the Under-23s as he looks to get to a point where he can contribute to the first team this season.
Guardiola said: "He’s always part of the training but the distances, the movements, you feel in the game. There are some things I don’t like about your country. Academy teams cannot play in a strong league but at the same time it’s an incredible decision that players for the first team for recovery can play for the second team.
"It’s an incredibly good decision. I don’t want to put targets on him, we want him to see the game, speak with him, how he felt against Arsenal. It’s good."
